Saturday, July 12, 2014

The union finance minister has put his weight behind the FSLRC report in his recent budget speech. One of the key recommendations of the FSLRC is move towards a unified financial regular. One of the main criticism of this idea is that it would lead to creation of a 'bureaucratic giant'. Well, the FSLRC does not just stop at the recommendations, it takes into account the pitfalls in execution and outlines how the unified regulatory framework should be designed. The FM would do well to take the entire report into consideration and avoid a formation of a 'bureaucratic giant'!There is a lot to bat for a unified regulator.Therefore, the finance minister’s budget announcement to dust off the report that was submitted in March last year is a big step forward for India’s financial sector reforms. A tight financial services regulatory framework would have a real chance to expand our financial markets, implement an effective client protection framework and a credible financial inclusion road map.I have an article in Mint outlining how a unified regulator would enable effective financial inclusion and customer protection.In defence of a unified financial regulator